Carnival sunshine review

[bender031177]

I am not usually the type to write reviews but I thought I had to in this case.

 

I just returned from a cruise on the Sunshine this past Sunday. We sailed to Belize, Roatan and Cozumel. I had read many reviews about the sunshine before going and most were negative.

 

I went as a group of six. There was me, DW, her two sisters, one cousin and a friend. I was the only man on the trip. I had cabin # 11028 (Spa 9 Balcony) and the other four booked cabin #'s 6105 and 6106. Those rooms are wheel chair accessible walkway view interior cabins. The idea is that a person in a wheel chair needs the room they will get a free upgrade. The balcony isn't any bigger than a standard balcony even though a PVP told me it was 10 square feet larger but the sliding door made it so much more usable.

 

My room was perfect in every way and just the sliding balcony door and fridge made it worth the extra $, never mind the access to spa facilities and not being around smokers. On that note I have to say that smoking is severely restricted on this ship which is great for me.

 

The other rooms both had a musty smell in the showers and Carnival moved both groups to an ocean view on decks one and two on the second day and credited them each $24 per cabin for the inconvenience.

 

The ship is amazing to look at and the lay out couldn't be better. I was concerned that i would feel crowded because of the extra passenger capacity but I found the opposite, with a few exceptions which I will explain later.

 

I was never stuck in a line for more than a few minutes and that was at the amazingly popular Guys Burger Joint. It is popular for a reason! They are the best burgers you can get period. For all the heat Carnival takes for entertainment or features they deserve all the credit for this one. I ate there at least five times.

 

The MDR meals were not as good as I have experienced on other cruises but that may have been because the lunch options were so good the MDR meals didn't seem as good by comparison.

 

I did do something I said I would never do and that was eat at a pay restaurant. I feel that if people support the pay restaurants then they will scale back on MDR service and try and funnel everyone into a pay venue like some other curie lines do and that would take away from the all inclusivity of the trip.

 

The restaurant I went to was JIJI asian kitchen. It was only $12 each ($15 after tip) and it was sensational. For the price of a few drinks we were treated to true 5 star dining. The food was prepared fresh and the portions were huge. The cuisine was also authentic.

 

We went out every night and tried to experience as many different venues as possible. Here is a snap shot of each one.

 

Liquid Lounge- This venue pulls double duty as a show lounge by day and a night club at night. As a show lounge it works fine but I found it to big for a night club. There were no more than 50 people on a massive dance floor the night we went. It wasn't intimate enough for me. On the positive side the light and sound systems are top notch.

 

Lime Light Lounge- The comedy shoes are a must see. I went to at least one a night. You have to go early for a good seat though unless you want to watch the act on tv. 1/4 of the seats are not visible from the stage. They might as well pipe the video to your state room so you can watch in total comfort. If you arrive a half hour before show time you should be ok.

 

Piano Bar - This is the first ship I have been on that has a non smoking piano bar and it was our favourite venue. We spent hours there. The piano player wasn't only a good musician but an excellent entertainer too. I can't remember his name but he's from Long Island. The venue is perfectly sized and situated.

 

Serenity - This was the best feature on the Dream when it was launched and Sunshine takes it to a whole new level. Three decks that have various levels of serenity. Deck 11 is loud because it overlooks the Lido as does deck 12. Deck 14 is very quite towards the front. Anyone that has complained about Serenity on this ship just likes to complain.

 

Sports Square and Water Park - The water slides are insane, no other way to say it. Carnival is investing a lot in their water parks and its money well spent. The timers didn't work which would have been cool but they were still a blast. The rope course was also fun and gave you a workout. I didn't use the rest of it but they looked good.

 

Overall I had a great vacation but I would not recommend going on this ship. There was a strong sewage smell on the ship. It was worst on deck three and four forward but I would catch the scent as far back as the Piano Bar.

 

This ship was put into service to soon. The sewage smell is in almost every review

I read and Carnival is well aware of the problem. If the problem could have been fixed it would have been by now. The ship needs to be dry docked and have the issue addressed.

 

If you are already booked on the ship you can still enjoy the vacation by avoiding the worst areas, which is what I did but that shouldn't be necessary. If you think it will be an issue for you call Carnival and demand a credit to be used on another cruise.

 

The ship is beautiful and the service was amazing top to bottom. I like Carnival's direction and I even booked my future cruise on the Glory while on board but I will not go back on their nicest ship until its fixed.

[cynt]

Thanks for a well rounded review. I board her in 20 days!!!:D

[carrieluvsgreg]

Thanks for the review. We had heard similar thugs about the dream before we sailed in 2010, thankfully we never noticed anything then or on our second sailing last year. I'd like to try the Sunshine, but not yet... I'll wait to let them get the kinks worked out.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smurf1635]

Thanks for the review. I'm excited and looking forward the repo sailing in April. I am glad to see you mentioned booking a future cruise while on board. I was under the impression that this couldn't be done on the Sunshine.

 

 

Robin

[Green4me]

Thanks for your review,

How was the Red Frog Pub?

[gregg204]

 

 

 

Overall I had a great vacation but I would not recommend going on this ship. There was a strong sewage smell on the ship. It was worst on deck three and four forward but I would catch the scent as far back as the Piano Bar.

 

This ship was put into service to soon. The sewage smell is in almost every review

I read and Carnival is well aware of the problem. If the problem could have been fixed it would have been by now. The ship needs to be dry docked and have the issue addressed.

 

If you are already booked on the ship you can still enjoy the vacation by avoiding the worst areas, which is what I did but that shouldn't be necessary. If you think it will be an issue for you call Carnival and demand a credit to be used on another cruise.

 

The ship is beautiful and the service was amazing top to bottom. I like Carnival's direction and I even booked my future cruise on the Glory while on board but I will not go back on their nicest ship until its fixed.

 

Thanks for review. I'd strongly recommend not changing plans for anyone booked on the Sunshine. We went in Nov and my Uncle went on her 2 weeks ago. Neither one us encounterd any odors at all. Maybe its a hit and miss thing. We are hoping to book her again before she leaves NOLA.

[crazyfrazee]

I am not usually the type to write reviews but I thought I had to in this case.

 

I just returned from a cruise on the Sunshine this past Sunday. We sailed to Belize, Roatan and Cozumel. I had read many reviews about the sunshine before going and most were negative.

 

I went as a group of six. There was me, DW, her two sisters, one cousin and a friend. I was the only man on the trip. I had cabin # 11028 (Spa 9 Balcony) and the other four booked cabin #'s 6105 and 6106. Those rooms are wheel chair accessible walkway view interior cabins. The idea is that a person in a wheel chair needs the room they will get a free upgrade. The balcony isn't any bigger than a standard balcony even though a PVP told me it was 10 square feet larger but the sliding door made it so much more usable.

 

My room was perfect in every way and just the sliding balcony door and fridge made it worth the extra $, never mind the access to spa facilities and not being around smokers. On that note I have to say that smoking is severely restricted on this ship which is great for me.

 

The other rooms both had a musty smell in the showers and Carnival moved both groups to an ocean view on decks one and two on the second day and credited them each $24 per cabin for the inconvenience.

 

The ship is amazing to look at and the lay out couldn't be better. I was concerned that i would feel crowded because of the extra passenger capacity but I found the opposite, with a few exceptions which I will explain later.

 

I was never stuck in a line for more than a few minutes and that was at the amazingly popular Guys Burger Joint. It is popular for a reason! They are the best burgers you can get period. For all the heat Carnival takes for entertainment or features they deserve all the credit for this one. I ate there at least five times.

 

The MDR meals were not as good as I have experienced on other cruises but that may have been because the lunch options were so good the MDR meals didn't seem as good by comparison.

 

I did do something I said I would never do and that was eat at a pay restaurant. I feel that if people support the pay restaurants then they will scale back on MDR service and try and funnel everyone into a pay venue like some other curie lines do and that would take away from the all inclusivity of the trip.

 

The restaurant I went to was JIJI asian kitchen. It was only $12 each ($15 after tip) and it was sensational. For the price of a few drinks we were treated to true 5 star dining. The food was prepared fresh and the portions were huge. The cuisine was also authentic.

 

We went out every night and tried to experience as many different venues as possible. Here is a snap shot of each one.

 

Liquid Lounge- This venue pulls double duty as a show lounge by day and a night club at night. As a show lounge it works fine but I found it to big for a night club. There were no more than 50 people on a massive dance floor the night we went. It wasn't intimate enough for me. On the positive side the light and sound systems are top notch.

 

Lime Light Lounge- The comedy shoes are a must see. I went to at least one a night. You have to go early for a good seat though unless you want to watch the act on tv. 1/4 of the seats are not visible from the stage. They might as well pipe the video to your state room so you can watch in total comfort. If you arrive a half hour before show time you should be ok.

 

Piano Bar - This is the first ship I have been on that has a non smoking piano bar and it was our favourite venue. We spent hours there. The piano player wasn't only a good musician but an excellent entertainer too. I can't remember his name but he's from Long Island. The venue is perfectly sized and situated.

 

Serenity - This was the best feature on the Dream when it was launched and Sunshine takes it to a whole new level. Three decks that have various levels of serenity. Deck 11 is loud because it overlooks the Lido as does deck 12. Deck 14 is very quite towards the front. Anyone that has complained about Serenity on this ship just likes to complain.

 

Sports Square and Water Park - The water slides are insane, no other way to say it. Carnival is investing a lot in their water parks and its money well spent. The timers didn't work which would have been cool but they were still a blast. The rope course was also fun and gave you a workout. I didn't use the rest of it but they looked good.

 

Overall I had a great vacation but I would not recommend going on this ship. There was a strong sewage smell on the ship. It was worst on deck three and four forward but I would catch the scent as far back as the Piano Bar.

 

This ship was put into service to soon. The sewage smell is in almost every review

I read and Carnival is well aware of the problem. If the problem could have been fixed it would have been by now. The ship needs to be dry docked and have the issue addressed.

 

If you are already booked on the ship you can still enjoy the vacation by avoiding the worst areas, which is what I did but that shouldn't be necessary. If you think it will be an issue for you call Carnival and demand a credit to be used on another cruise.

 

The ship is beautiful and the service was amazing top to bottom. I like Carnival's direction and I even booked my future cruise on the Glory while on board but I will not go back on their nicest ship until its fixed.

 

I went on it when it was the Destiny. Overcrowded!!! Now, right now the kids are in school and not so many vacationers. Can you imagine that ship during June, July and August?

[bender031177]

The piano player was Gary :)

 

I wanted to add that the Lido deck buffet area is greatly improved by setting it up as stations and the buffet food even seemed better than past trips. The mexican cantina was great for lunch too.

 

We ate in the main dining room for sea day brunch each sea day and like this new option.

 

The VIP Production show was outstanding - in particular, the male performers were better than any others we've seen. My SIL saw the Rock tribute show and said the same thing about the performers.

 

Since smoking was limited, areas of the casino could be quite smokey...it was odd that they had the non-smoking slots mingled in with the smoking slots instead of a section dedicated to each.

 

We had a shake from the shake bar and tried the taste bar most nights it was open - all good stuff

 

There was a future cruise desk - I believe it was just added because we had conflicting reports prior to the cruise.

 

We walked through the Red Frog Pub the first day but never made it back there (for no particular reason - there is just a lot to see and do)

 

They made good use of the Ocean Plaza area and the entertainment there was always good when we walked through and drew good crowds.

 

There was a live singer/guitar player in the Atrium and lido deck at times - he had a great voice

 

Another great cruise, too bad about the smell - it's hard to believe that it's not on every sailing because it was remarked on by almost everyone we encountered and many said they wouldn't sail the ship again because of it. Too bad because as I said earlier, everything else about the week was wonderful.

[cruizinisthebest]

Being that all of the ships I would like to try next have had varying comments about the sewage smell, I'm fine to stay booked right where I am. Thanks for the review! Good information. Will try to make it a point to check out JiJis and the piano bar.

[reneeadams]

The piano player was Gary :)

 

I wanted to add that the Lido deck buffet area is greatly improved by setting it up as stations and the buffet food even seemed better than past trips. The mexican cantina was great for lunch too.

 

We ate in the main dining room for sea day brunch each sea day and like this new option.

 

The VIP Production show was outstanding - in particular, the male performers were better than any others we've seen. My SIL saw the Rock tribute show and said the same thing about the performers.

 

Since smoking was limited, areas of the casino could be quite smokey...it was odd that they had the non-smoking slots mingled in with the smoking slots instead of a section dedicated to each.

 

We had a shake from the shake bar and tried the taste bar most nights it was open - all good stuff

 

There was a future cruise desk - I believe it was just added because we had conflicting reports prior to the cruise.

 

We walked through the Red Frog Pub the first day but never made it back there (for no particular reason - there is just a lot to see and do)

 

They made good use of the Ocean Plaza area and the entertainment there was always good when we walked through and drew good crowds.

 

There was a live singer/guitar player in the Atrium and lido deck at times - he had a great voice

 

Another great cruise, too bad about the smell - it's hard to believe that it's not on every sailing because it was remarked on by almost everyone we encountered and many said they wouldn't sail the ship again because of it. Too bad because as I said earlier, everything else about the week was wonderful.[/QU

 

I am doing that same itinerary in March and was wondering if you had copies of the fun times?

[sjcruiser]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the Sunshine in late summer.

[Ciardasully]

Thanks for the review! I will be sailing this Sunday! :D

[bender031177]

Sorry, no copies of the fun times.

[smurf1635]

Who is the cruise director, please?

[bar1068]

Who is the cruise director, please?

 

Jamie Dee

[smurf1635]

Jamie Dee

 

 

formally from the Dream? We enjoyed her.

[bar1068]

formally from the Dream? We enjoyed her.

 

Hmmmm...dunno bout that..we've not been on the Dream yet....We "had" her on the Pride a few years ago when she was an AD with Kirk..somebody or other.

 

You should again enjoy her energy and exuberance...she was non stop fun, full steam ahead on the Sunshine TA.

Edited February 4, 2014 by bar1068

[loadpipes]

enjoyed the review we are sailing on it in August this will be the first cruise with the grandkids every thing ive read and seen it looks like there will be alot of things for them to do we are staying on the deck 7 so hopefully no smell up there. We were on the Dream in 2010 and there was a sewage smell then not real strong but you could smell it

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[SportsMomof4]

Thanks for the review. Glad to finally hear some great things about the Sunshine. We finally booked on Friday after some hesitation due to a lot of bad reviews.

 

Is there a fee for the shake bar? Do they serve anything else besides shakes?

 

Also to a pp about the cruise director, I know Butch Begovich is taking over the Sunshine soon.

[okgirl]

I'll be on the Sunshine in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to see the updates. I'm a bit concerned about the smell, but a lot of people aren't commenting on it so I'm hoping that it isn't an issue.

 

I've encountered the smell on other ship, but the only time it's been persistent was on the Conquest in the Lobby. I couldn't stand to be down there, but it only lasted one day.

[bender031177]

Thanks for the review. Glad to finally hear some great things about the Sunshine. We finally booked on Friday after some hesitation due to a lot of bad reviews.

 

Is there a fee for the shake bar? Do they serve anything else besides shakes?

 

Also to a pp about the cruise director, I know Butch Begovich is taking over the Sunshine soon.

 

 

The shakes cost $1.50 i think and you get a punch card so your sixth is free. You can also get them spiked for $6 more. I think they serve something else there but I can't remember.

 

I did see Butch on the ship doing training. I had him on two previous trips and he was good. He takes over on his own this week. I thought it was only temporary but I could be wrong.

[dolfndreams]

I was on Aft deck 2 for a 12 day Med and no sewage smell in that area on our trip. Main areas I went to otherwise Lido of course and Serenity deck no issues.

 

Also loved the shake shack worth the extra:)

[SportsMomof4]

The shakes cost $1.50 i think and you get a punch card so your sixth is free. You can also get them spiked for $6 more. I think they serve something else there but I can't remember.

 

I did see Butch on the ship doing training. I had him on two previous trips and he was good. He takes over on his own this week. I thought it was only temporary but I could be wrong.

 

Thank you for the info. I have have a little one who loves shakes so that's a nice new perk :) On out last 2 cruises on the Breeze, Butch was our CD & he was awesome!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[ZRC1MLC2]

I will be on the March 16 sailing out of NOLA along with a cousin, 2 13 year old girls and 2 16 year old boys. We are so excited about this trip. I will say, the sewage smell reports do concern me but it seems as though the smell is reported to be mainly forward. Our cabing are aft. Hopefully we wont have the smell in the cabins. We will try to be outside on the decks a lot so it won't be much of an issue. I have had second thoughts about this cruise ship after reading some of the reviews but the good seems to out weigh the bad and it is mostly what you make it. 39 days and counting!!